ACCOUNT: Stakeholders and Accountability in Public Bodies

The Crick Centre is working with experts worldwide on a new project to understand how independent Public Bodies in different countries work with stakeholder groups in government and the wider public.

We know a lot about how effective stakeholder engagement by independent public bodies can play a vital role in terms of promoting co-ordination, mutual learning, accountability and efficiency. Stakeholders can include government departments, parliament, as well as the media, industry and general public.

However, the existing knowledge base is actually very thin. Most detailed analyses focusing on how the European Union’s arm’s-length bodies manage stakeholder relations. Our project focuses on public bodies at the national level. ACCOUNT focuses on three questions:

How do public bodies manage stakeholder engagement?

Why does stakeholder engagement matter?

How are the processes and procedures for stakeholder engagement changing?

Our project is working international research network has been established to explore these questions for public bodies in a number of countries, currently including Belgium, Denmark, Switzerland, Australia, Sweden, New Zealand and Norway.

ACCOUNT aims to build on the success of previous studies by delivering theoretically informed but policy-relevant research that will deliver real-world data and insights into effective stakeholder engagement for public bodies. It also offers opportunities to learn from best practice around the world and to build international networks of practitioners and scholars who all share a focus in public sector management.

The methodology is based on a web-based survey and a small number of semi-structured interviews and it is hoped that public bodies will support this project and seek to utilize it as added capacity for strengthening or reflecting upon stakeholder engagement processes.

If you have any questions or would like more information at this stage please feel free to contact Dr Matt Wood on 0114 2221683 or m.wood@sheffield.ac.uk